A briefing for the entertainment press by the Center for Voting and Democracy

The Academy Awards uses a proportional voting system to select the five
nominees for each category. Understanding this voting system is key to
understanding the Oscar race. In this briefing, the Center for Voting
and Democracy explains how proportional voting works and what it means
for the Oscar contenders. Analysts from the Center are available for
interviews and background. Please contact Dan Johnson-Weinberger at
312.933.4890 or the Center's national office in Washington DC at
301.270.4616.

How do Oscar nominees get chosen?

The 5,500 voting members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and
Sciences choose the nominees for each award, as well as the winner
among the five nominees. All members vote on Best Picture, while peers
vote for nominees and winners in the other non-specialized categories
(directors vote for Best Director, actors for Best Actor, etc.). But
how exactly do these nominees get chosen?

The Academy uses a very inclusive voting system: proportional
representation. This is designed to create a diverse slate of nominees
that reflects the preferences of the broad spectrum of film artists who
make up the organization's various branches.

Each nominating ballot has five numbered slots for each category that
the member is eligible to vote in. Although each member only gets one
vote, they are entitled to choose up to five potential nominees, in
order. In case their favorite nominee is eliminated, their vote counts
toward their second choice. There is no need to make calculations about
whether an achievement has a realistic chance or not, because voters
can't waste their votes. Academy members can support an unlikely
candidate, as their vote will count for their second choice if their
first choice is eliminated..

Any potential nominee that is supported by 20% of the voters will get 1
of the 5 nominations (that's proportional representation). With more
than 5,000 ballots expected to be returned to the Academy in the Best
Picture category, the magic number of first-choice votes for a would-be
nominee for Best Picture is a little more than 1000.

Note: The exact quota is a bit lower than 20%. In order to find the
lowest number of votes needed to win one of five nominations, the
Academy divides the total number of votes by six (not five), and adds
one more vote to that figure. That is 16.6% plus one more vote.

Picking the winner

Once the five nominees are chosen by proportional representation,
another ballot is sent out to all Academy members. This time,
preferential voting is not allowed. Whoever gets the most votes wins
the Oscar and there is no need to get a majority of votes.

Where else is proportional representation used?

This same inclusive voting system is used to elect the city council of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Australian Senate and the parliament of
Ireland. The plurality voting system to pick the winner -- where you
don't have to earn a majority of votes -- is the same system we use to
elect the president of the United States.

For more information:

"Excursions in Modern Mathematics", by Tannenbaum and Arnold, ISBN 013-1001914